Specialty chemicals innovator Perstorp has launched new grades for carboxylic acids that are now available with 100%-renewable, traceable mass balanced content and the market’s lowest product carbon footprint. 

The new products, Valeric Acid Pro 100 and 2-Ethylhexanoic Acid Pro 100, represent the latest stride in Perstorp's mission towards becoming Finite Material Neutral™, heralding a significant shift in the industry's dependence on virgin fossil raw materials while allowing downstream industries to reduce Scope 3 emissions. 

When considering the biogenic CO₂ uptake¹ absorbed by the renewable raw materials used, these products demonstrate a negative carbon footprint from the cradle to the Perstorp gate. Developed based on a traceable mass balance concept, Valeric Acid Pro 100 and 2-EHA Pro 100 are designed to minimize the carbon footprint² throughout the value chain, supporting sustainable sourcing of renewable and recycled raw materials. 

Valeric Acid Pro 100 and 2-EHA Pro 100, as well as all Perstorp’s Pro-Environment offerings, bear the ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) sustainability certification. This seal of approval attests that stringent sustainability standards are met, including the products, the mass balance methodology, and the product carbon footprint (PCF) calculations. Both products exhibit a negative cradle-to-gate PCF value, aligned with Together for Sustainability methodology. 

Together with Perstorp’s portfolio of Pro-Environment Polyols (Neeture™, Evyron™, and Voxtar™) the debut of Valeric Acid Pro 100 and 2-EHA Pro 100 marks the inauguration of a comprehensive portfolio of Polyol Esters (POE) building blocks, positioning Perstorp as a sustainable solutions provider for businesses aspiring to lessen their reliance on virgin fossil raw materials and minimize their product or corporate carbon footprints. 

“The synthetic lubricant industry is inherently a sustainable industry,” says Dr. Valentina Serra Holm, Perstorp’s Vice President of Engineered Fluids. “The use of synthetic lubricants is making a positive impact by reducing the energy used and extending the lifetime of parts. Now, in addition to sustainable applications, we can proudly offer a wide range of more sustainable building blocks for polyol esters.” 

These Pro-Environment products match the performance and quality of their fossil counterparts but exhibit a superior environmental profile. By employing traceable mass balance, Perstorp helps to shift the feedstocks of the chemical industry to renewable and recycled sources, but without the need for long development lead-times. These drop-in solutions offer a seamless transition with the same quality and performance as the fossil-based products.

“Mass balance, with chemical and physical traceability, is a crucial methodology that contributes traceability, efficiency, accountability, compliance, and sustainability across industries and processes,” says Elisa Swanson-Parbäck, Global Marketing Director for Sustainable Lubricants at Perstorp. “It enables our customers to accurately track materials and make informed decisions. Further on, it showcases our commitment, long-term and short-term, to responsible practices as we can ensure our value chain partners that we apply a credible and transparent transition towards renewable raw materials.” 

Emphasizing transparency and traceability, the Traceable Mass Balance applies chemical and physical traceability principles. This ensures the product's progressive transition from fossil to fully renewable and/or recycled, marking a significant stride towards sustainability in the synthetic lubricants sector. 

¹ Biogenic CO₂ uptake refers to the CO₂ captured by the plant/biomass from the atmosphere, during the photosynthesis process, while growing. 

² Negative product carbon footprint implies a net removal of CO₂ from cradle to Perstorp gate when factoring in the biogenic CO₂ uptake. The conversion of biomass into products thereby signifies a net CO₂ extraction via its storage in the final product.